John Cornyn: “according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the pending legislation before the Senate will add $80 billion…”

“according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the pending legislation before the Senate will add $80 billion to the Federal deficit. The Treasury Department, in a report to Congress last week, projects that by 2015 the national debt will reach $19.6 trillion. My amendment represents a modest attempt to ensure that Congress is kept informed on the economic and national security implications of two important matters: first, the ballooning national debt; and, secondly, the foreign financing of our deficit spending. I believe it is only prudent for Congress to get regular analyses on these issues, ones as critical as these. My amendment has two components. First, it requires the General Accounting Office to provide Congress with an annual risk assessment on the national security and economic hazards posed by the national debt. Secondly, it would require the President to provide Congress with quarterly risk assessments on the national security and economic hazards posed by current levels of foreign holdings of our debt. In the event the risk level is found to be too high, the President would have to put together and then execute a plan to mitigate that risk in a way that reduces Federal spending. It is the worst kept secret in the world that our deficit spending is being financed by foreign investors who may not always have our Nation's best interests at heart.”